Archive for August, 2010

This is written for all the unemployed college graduates out there who are still struggling to find employment. I am making the assumption that you went to a decent college, got decent grades and have accepted that the quick path to making a lot of money by the time you are 30 is now a passing fancy.

I am also assuming you have employability skills; communication (written and oral), interpersonal skills, computer skills, research skills, networking skills, and a good sense of self-awareness for what you bring to the table that a prospective employer needs. I am sure you can identify several other must-have employability skills, please consider what they are and start with a fresh sheet of paper and write them down.

The trick to managing your job search starts with writing it down. Where do you need to start? Is it the resume, your cover letter, your interviewing skills, networking, etc.? What element of the job search are you most confident with, what element are you least confident with? Do you know who you are and can you easily identify what you are doing when you are most productive and in your most satisfying work zone? Do you know how to maneuver through your industry of interest? If the financial industry is your interest, what other doors can you enter through to begin your career path. Try not to be too fixed regarding your must have first job and ultimate career, sometimes when you least expect it a surprise career path will show up. Talk to many people in your industry of interest and ask for their advice. Listen, listen, and listen some more – you don’t know what you don’t know.

This is Plan B – Take a job, any job because working has transferrable value to other future jobs. Do your research and tailor your resume to the job and company of interest and apply to only one job per day; it is impossible to conduct any accurate follow up if you aimlessly hit send for many jobs. Add new skills to your skill set and take on assignments or a particular team role that will allow you to feature what you do best and deliver your best.

Talk to people, if your interest is in a particular product or service go to the people that serve those customers directly. Visit their competitors and become a subject matter expert on what you have learned. You will be amazed by what you will discover. And, when you have identified companies to pursue employment with you will now have some concrete and valuable information to use in your interview.

There are many more things you can do to implement Plan B. I would love to hear about your Plan B pursuits and how it worked out.